News & Media

January 2011
Director's Corner: Notes on a Political Swarm

Usually the NeuroNews is published on time, so why is it so very late this month? As of last week, I was going to write to our more than 3000 subscribers about some fascinating biology - "Alarms and Diversions" (with apologies to James Thurber). That piece is finished, and you will see it on time mid-February, but the events of last weekend in Arizona altered my plans. I feel compelled to comment on what has been happening in my home country, our neighbor to the south.

Those events have a bearing on the nature of civil discourse and debate in all societies, especially when considered in the framework of governmental re-alignment of funding for new social priorities that have global significance. One critically important aspect of this discourse in Canada centers around improving education of our youth in science and technology, and the kinds of research priorities we can best explore in this country. Many of us look to the older and more mature guideposts carved out by the United States, a country that for a long time has made health and science research a top priority. In health alone, the US has committed about $30 billion to NIH for 2011, a figure that far exceeds the less than $1 billion designated for the CIHR, Canada's parallel organization. Per capita, Canada lags far, far behind in health research funding.

In the USA, Gabrielle Giffords is a moderate conservative legislator, well-liked by her colleagues and her constituents. Her interests are in Science and Technology (she is a member of this influential Congressional Committee), she voted for Obama's health care legislation and her husband is an astronaut. She feels compassion for the forty seven million Americans who live without health care. She understands the importance of international approaches to the social and scientific problems that threaten the planet.

Giffords is a champion of true free speech, and in fact she was selected to read the First Amendment to the US Constitution in Congress just a few days before she was shot. We need people like her in all governments, thoughtful moderates who have common sense and clear vision. The First Amendment that Gabrielle Giffords read in Congress states that freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, and expression are guaranteed. Simple common sense concepts, subject to much critical debate, interpretation and misinterpretation over the past 250 years.

But a growing corner of the political landscape in the US identified this moderate legislator as a prime target for political "retirement" by an emboldened right wing, with no deeper agenda other than to put themselves in power. I do not mean the deranged shooter, the media's focal point in this umbra mortis play, but rather the unconscionable climate created by a frustrated, restless right wing that perhaps...perhaps...merely tilted him ever so slightly to action. As Sarah Palin herself has stated, "There are no coincidences."

And so we come to the web posting by Palin of Giifford's Arizona district in rifle crosshairs. This, following several disturbing events that have taken place in that tiny corner of Arizona, including an M-16 firefest that her Republican opponent organized. Palin's recent posting, and the "Don't retreat, reload!" mantra, set a tone that brought to the surface of US society a swarm of individuals, like the shooter, who look around and perceive vague support for whatever percolates just below their mental surface. They may be pushed just enough over the edge to commit a crime of stunning proportions. Although of course not directly responsible for last week's events, Palin allows and encourages, with that exasperating, cheery wink and nod, the confounding and confabulation of free speech, the right to bear arms, prayer, and politics. The tone is set, and her swarm of followers responds.

Swarm? In nature, single organisms sometimes swarm by the thousands, submerging their individual identities and modifying their behavior for the advantage of the species. Birds, ants, fish swarm in response to a perceived threat. Collectively, they acquire a potential that individually they just do not have. They can rapidly revert to the individual state when the threat dissipates, but in the swarm they act like a new single organism and exhibit new behaviors. As a swarming collective, for example, starlings can effectively defend themselves against a predatory falcon, whereas a single bird's chances would be absolutely nil.

Now, isn't Palin, the Tea Party, the extreme right and left entitled to First Amendment protection? Can't they post on the web anything they wish? Is the best current test for First Amendment protection of freedom of speech the popular metaphor that every elementary school child learns? Oliver Wendell Holmes famously stated that falsely shouting "FIRE!" in a crowded theater is the test. But is this the truest test for now? I think not. Rather, as soon as that Facebook page was posted on her site, Palin should have been sharply reprimanded by the right and left alike. The concept of civic responsibility in the US should have demanded it. All citizens should have recognized that by posting the crosshair image and linking weapons with politics, that this is the modern equivalent of falsely shouting, "FIRE!"

Please send any comments about the Director's Corner to David Colman

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Recent News

Neuroscience Genesis for new nursing staff

Nineteen new nurses graduated from the Neuroscience Genesis Program, a program that creates a network of support for nurses in their first year of employment. The ‘rookie’ year is a critical period for retention of nurses working in hospitals who, after a 3 month orientation, face challenges that are stressful for even the most experienced professional. In this program, time is set aside for reflective practice and peer learning and support, which allows these nurses to normalize their first year experience and to build a community at work. The Genesis Program, initiated in the Neuroscience Mission in 2008, is highly valued by the more than 35 nurses who have completed it and who are helping to fine tune it for new colleagues.

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Upcoming Events

The next Neuro Films
Bottle Rocket, February 10
Neuroscientist David Ragsdale will host Bottle Rocket, an unusual heist-character drama characterized as a subtle, zany and quietly crazy film. This 1996 film touches on loyalty and friendship, and features Luke and Owen Wilson. The film will start at 6:30 pm and a discussion will follow.

Neuro movies are free and are shown in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre. Mark your calendar for future films March 24 (Rainman, hosted by Gabriel Leonard) and April 7 (Extraordinary Measures, hosted by Eric Shoubridge).

Interdisciplinary Neuro Palliative Care Rounds, January 26
Robin Cohen, Director of Research, Division of Palliative Care, Departments of Oncology and Medicine at McGill, will present What’s important to the quality of life for patients at the end of life and for family care givers, at noon on January 26 in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre. All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to Debbie Rashcovsky by email or at 514-398-6047 by January 17 to attend the buffet lunch before the talk.

Thomas Willis Lecture, February 14
Neurologist Alastair Compston, Editor of BRAIN and Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Cambridge University, will deliver the Thomas Willis Lecture entitled Dr. Thomas Willis’ works: “the most learned Dr. Christopher Wren; and the inward dens of the brain” on February 14 at 4 pm. He will also deliver a Neurology Conference entitled The basis for treatment in multiple sclerosis at 8:30 am on February 16. Both lectures will be in the De Grandpré Communications Centre. Professor Compston will also lecture on Brain, a Journal of neurology: 133 years on on the February 15 at 4 pm at the Osler Library. Please contact Dr. William Feindel for more information.

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In the News

The work of scientists and clinicians at The Neuro is frequently in the news so you can stay up to date by following our media coverage. Those experts recently featured include:
Robert Zatorre, Valorie Salimpoor and Alain Dagher, whose study on how listening to pleasurable music releases dopamine in the brain received extensive media coverage locally, nationally and internationally including articles and reports in: The Montreal Gazette, The New York Times, Radio-Canada le Telejournal (click on Audio-video), Le Devoir, The Times of India, as well as National CTV, CBC, The Globe and Mail, Global News, La Presse, BBC (World Service, BBC Scotland, The Naked Scientists), The Calgary Herald, The Boston Globe, The Edmonton Journal, The Star Phoenix, The Leader-Post, The Windsor Star, The Vancouver Sun, Mirror, Canadian University Press, International ABC News, Discovery News, Swiss Radio and Television, The Telegraph (India), The Associated Press, The Scientist Magazine, Nature Magazine, The LA Times, MSNBC, The Independent (UK), The Guardian (UK), The Daily Mail (UK), Scientific American (podcast), The Takeaway WNYC Radio (NY), WQXR Radio (NY), TIME magazine, CNN, sciencesetavenir.fr, sympatico.ca, lesoir.be, lexpress.fr, france24.com, sur7.be, liberation.fr, tv5.org, tunisiesoir.com, lavoixdeparis.fr and more.

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Congratulations to ...

Royal Govain, former head of External Affairs at The Neuro, who has returned to McGill as Managing Director, Volunteer Partnerships, in the office of Development and Alumni Relations.

Catherine Rowe, head of External Affairs at The Neuro, who received the Martlet Award from McGill’s office of Development and Alumni Relations for her outstanding leadership and contributions as a development professional.

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Condolences to ...

Friends and family of Tony Proudfoot who mourn his death on December 30 from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Proudfoot, a member of the Montreal Alouette’s from 1971 to 1979 and a teacher at Dawson College for 30 years, achieved his goal of making a difference in ALS awareness by writing with honesty and clarity about his illness after being diagnosed in 2007, and by raising more than $500,000 for ALS research and patient support through the Tony Proudfoot Fund. Proudfoot’s determination and zest for life was an inspiration to many, including staff at The Neuro’s ALS Clinic who feel privileged to have assisted in his care. For more information, please see article in The Montreal Gazette, The Globe and Mail, The McGill Reporter , and on CBC Radio.

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Director - David R. Colman, PhD
Senior Management - Martine Alfonso; Mark Angle, MD; Phil Barker, PhD; Rob Dunn, PhD; Lucia Fabijan; Tom Gevas; Elizabeth Kofron, PhD; Catherine Rowe; Donatella Tampieri, MD
Neuro News: Elizabeth Kofron, PhD & Sandra McPherson, PhD

Please send any items for the Neuro News to Sandra McPherson or Beth Kofron.

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